WWE Monday Night Raw 12/26/2011 - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

CM Punk has the WWE Title, which is exciting and great, and I'm thrilled about it. But in order for Punk to develop into the top-tier talent people on the internet (including myself!) know that he can, WWE actually needs to start treating him like the champion. Opening the show is good, and putting him in a Gauntlet Match against three heels, with a possible match against a reviled authority figure hanging in the balance is even better. But that proved to be little more than a tease as Punk lost in the second round of his Gauntlet Match with a good 20 minutes of show still left over.

So, instead of watching a CM Punk/Johnny Ace match-up that the Chicago audience was dying to see, we got to witness a long, drawn-out Kane promo delivered to a confused John Cena. I have no problem with the promo or angle itself, but it's frustrating that WWE chose to end the year on that note instead of an exciting match featuring the promotion's champion. If the dirt sheets are to be believed, ratings took a real hit during Punk's segments last week, and WWE is pretty concerned about it, but the solution isn't to keep Punk out of the limelight. It's a common internet complaint to say "They don't give him a chance to succeed!" but in this case at least, it's true.

FINALLY: Those promos...

For weeks, we've been exposed to WWE's wackadoo attempt at doing something creepy and enigmatic, with the schoolhouse videos that look like they were filmed by someone who had The Ring explained to them by a drunk guy. Who do you think is going to be showing up next week: Chris Jericho? Undertaker? DJ Gabriel? Let us know in the comments below!